Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart Must Improve Against Top Teams

However, in order to do so the Cowboys will have to cruise past the Kansas Jayhawks, which is a tall order to say the least. On Saturday, the College Basketball world was given a bit of a tease as the ninth-ranked Cowboys went to Kansas and squared off against the red-hot Jayhawks.

Needless to say, Oklahoma State was upended by Bill Self‘s team as the Cowboys were unable to overcome a 17-point halftime deficit. There’s no mystery when it comes to Oklahoma State’s best all-around player. Point guard Marcus Smart was atop many NBA mock drafts last year, but he made the “smart” decision by staying another year in the collegiate ranks.

Smart claimed that his game still needed some work before making that leap to the NBA, and unfortunately that still remains the case. On Saturday, Smart finished with just 16 points despite playing a team-high 39 minutes. Clearly, this wasn’t a game that showcased Smart’s insane talent. Instead, the point guard was totally out of sink as Smart finished the game with a shooting percentage of 21%!

Look, Oklahoma State can pound Robert Morris University all it would like, but if the Travis Ford-led Cowboys are serious about a title in 2014 then they must get more out of Smart in these high-profile games.